Download SEC Filings and Exhibits With Python

The examples below use the sec-api Python package to download any file published on SEC EDGAR: a filing, one of its exhibits, an XML data file or the complete submission text file. The API returns the file exactly as filed, so nothing is converted or reformatted. To convert a filing to PDF instead, see the PDF Generator API Python example.

Installation

Install the package with pip:

pip install sec-api

Download a filing

get_filing takes the sec.gov URL of the filing and returns its content as a string. The example saves Abiomed's Form 8-K to disk.

from sec_api import DownloadApi

downloadApi = DownloadApi("YOUR_API_KEY")

url = "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/815094/000156459021006205/abmd-8k_20210211.htm"

filing = downloadApi.get_filing(url)

with open("abmd-8k.htm", "w") as f:
    f.write(filing)

Download an exhibit

Exhibits are files in the same folder as the filing, so the same call downloads them. Exhibit URLs are listed in the documentFormatFiles array returned by the Filing Search API.

from sec_api import DownloadApi

downloadApi = DownloadApi("YOUR_API_KEY")

# Exhibit 99.1, a press release attached to an 8-K
url = "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000032019326000018/a8-kex991q3202606272026.htm"

exhibit = downloadApi.get_file(url)

with open("exhibit-99-1.htm", "w") as f:
    f.write(exhibit)

Download images and other binaries

Set return_binary=True for files that are not text, such as the graphics attached to a proxy statement, and write the result in binary mode.

from sec_api import DownloadApi

downloadApi = DownloadApi("YOUR_API_KEY")

url = "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000130817926000008/aapl014016-logo.jpg"

image = downloadApi.get_file(url, return_binary=True)

with open("logo.jpg", "wb") as f:
    f.write(image)

Download the filings of a company

The Download API pairs with the Filing Search API: search returns the URLs, download fetches the files. The example saves every Apple 10-K filed since 2015.

from sec_api import QueryApi, DownloadApi

queryApi = QueryApi("YOUR_API_KEY")
downloadApi = DownloadApi("YOUR_API_KEY")

query = {
    "query": 'ticker:AAPL AND formType:"10-K" AND filedAt:[2015-01-01 TO 2026-12-31]',
    "from": "0",
    "size": "20",
    "sort": [{"filedAt": {"order": "desc"}}],
}

filings = queryApi.get_filings(query)["filings"]

for filing in filings:
    url = filing["linkToFilingDetails"]
    name = filing["accessionNo"] + ".htm"

    with open(name, "w") as f:
        f.write(downloadApi.get_filing(url))

    print("saved", name)

Good to know

  • The URL must point at the file itself under sec.gov/Archives. An inline XBRL viewer URL contains /ix?doc=, which has to be removed first.
  • get_filing and get_file behave the same way. Both accept any EDGAR file, whatever its type.
  • The complete submission text file, the .txt at the end of a filing index, downloads the whole submission including every exhibit in one request.